Thursday 10 March 2016

Blackheath by Gabriella Lepore - Book Review

Blackheath
Book 1 of The Blackheath Witches
By:  Gabriella Lepore
Published:  December 20, 2015 Of Tomes Publishing
Genre:  Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Pages:   323 Calibre EReader
Source:  Xpresso Book Tours
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Seventeen-year-old Maggie Ellmes is dogged by a case of chronic bad luck. She figures that’s just her lot in life—that is, until the psychic at Blackheath’s annual carnival reveals that Maggie’s problems are caused by more than just ordinary misfortune; she’s actually been cursed.

Desperate to shake the hex, Maggie has no choice but to seek out the help of Joel Tomlins, a rebellious classmate who’s descended from Blackheath’s most powerful line of witches. After breaking all of his coven’s conventions to help her, Joel discovers that the curse isn’t as bad as Maggie fears. In fact, it’s much, much worse.
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Book 1 of the Blackheath Witches series was written in the two years after Evanescent but luckily I’m reading it just a week after for this Xpresso book tour.

Gabriella Lepore knows how to draw out the development of young teen relationships really well, and write about small town life, qualities that carry over into Blackheath. You feel like you’re really there in a good way.

We get drawn into the lives of the Tomlins, the witch family of Blackheath, who move up to Really Old Aunt Pearl’s crumbling but awesome manor house. Second-oldest son, Joel, figures that Maggie from Blackheath high school, who he’s sweet on, is the target of dark witch practices by other witches.

It's neat that a boy, Joel is the witch here. There’s loads of nice detail on early teen interaction and relationships though I was looking for a little more witch stuff. I would say this is a bit more of an early teen novel than paranormal per se.  I was also a little mystified that Joel didn’t seek family help earlier on (despite family issues) and tried to go it alone protecting Maggie.

The author has a sweet, almost whimsical writing style that just wiggles its way into your heart. And I was laughing that the boys never once thought to maybe repair stuff like broken stairs, but then there’s no female present in the family to prod them on I guess and boys will be boys.

There’s a nice unexpected twist towards the end, and a glimpse of the absent and mysterious matriarch, Evangeline; likely more of her to come in book 2.

If you have early teens in your life who like to read, don’t hesitate to gift them with Blackheath.
As I did for Evanescent, I heartily recommend this charming read for early teens and all young at heart readers. 4.3 Stars!
Grab your copy at Amazon

Check out Gabriella on the web at these links:

4 comments:

  1. Great review! This sounds like a fun read and easy to get into! Glad you liked it! :)

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    1. Thanks for your support, Giselle! I've loved doing Gabriella's book tours and really enjoyed reading her books. Thanks for the opportunity:)

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  2. I LOVE this Blog Tour! So many new authors to find and read! I came across Blackheath by Gabriella Lepore on this tour and am very excited to add it to my "MUST READ" list. Thanks for the great opportunity to win. Thanks for introducing me to all the new authors to check out!

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    1. Thanks for popping by Kristina! You will really enjoy reading Gabriella's books and I'm looking forward to book 2 in the Blackheath series :)

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